Mary Clare

May 30th or the 31st sounds like a great day to summit Everest! Wishing you all the best. I hope there will be a good window and that everyone is feeling strong. Have the ropes been completely fixed at this time? If so, it sounds like the team will have a good chance of summitting.

Please pass on my best wishes to the team for a successful summit and I'll be thinking of you at the weekend when I'm trekking up Binnian on Sunday 29th (one of the considerably lower than Everest, Mourne Mountains in N Ireland).

Particularly give my best wishes to Alex, Harry and Lorenzo - they definitely are determined chaps given Alex's encounter with Maoist rebels at the start of the expedition and Harry's problems recently and the tragic news of Marko. Tell them to take care and stay together as a team and for all to help each other survive. Just don't lose your lives, don't take unnecessary risks - it will always be there for another attempt at a different time when the weather may be kinder than it has been this season.

However, here's hoping and praying you will all descend safely and quickly after a successful summit.